the fire burns (but the water swallows)
by thelinksthatconnectus
Summary: When there is no land, no sea, nowhere else to go, they only have each other. A collection of Hardenshipping one-shots.
1. the kids aren't alright

"Come home with me."

The words were out of Archie's mouth before he had time to think about what he was actually saying.

It was hard not to think about home. Home, where Shelley and Matt were, where there was a warm bed and coffee, and where Archie felt secure. Home, the one place that he had imagined (hoped) that wouldn't be effected by Groudon's rage.

"What?" Maxie's voice shook as he spoke. He looked to be just barely standing; every breath he took came with a wheeze. It had been that way ever since he had lost control of Groudon, though Archie guessed the cigarettes that he had been obsessively smoking through the storm had something else to do with it. His latest had fallen to the ground, crushed under someone's feet.

"Come home with me." Archie spoke slower that time, his eyes never leaving Maxie's own.

"What?" Maxie blinked.

For a moment, Archie thought that he would need to repeat himself.

"Why?" Maxie asked, before Archie had a chance to speak again.

Archie looked over Maxie again. He looked so different from the Maxie that he had once known, the confident boy who could debate for hours. His red hair was a mess, his glasses on the edge of his nose, and his body a shaking mess. His usual sweater was covered in dirt and wet.

This was not Maxie, not the Maxie that Archie knew.

Not his Maxie.

"Why not?" Archie replied. He took Maxie by one arm. Maxie relaxed under him, leaning into him.

Tabitha, one of Maxie's admins, quickly came to his side.

"Maxie, sir-"

"Get to Courtney." Maxie coughed, first once and then a flurry afterwards. He leaned closer to Archie.

"What?" Tabitha asked.

Archie was getting sick of hearing the word.

"I said to get to Courtney," Maxie replied. "She needs you. The team needs you."

"Sir, what about you?"

"Me?" Maxie looked back to Archie. "I need to go home."

The last of his footing fell from under him; Archie quickly grabbed him, holding him tightly against his chest.

Maxie's chest felt so thin, even with his thick sweater over it.

Are those his ribs? Archie thought, looking down at the outlines on his sweater. No, he thought. Those are just wrinkles. They have to be.

His throat tightened none the less.

"He'll be back," Archie said, shooting the black haired man the best smile that he could. "He just needs to rest is all."

Maxie nodded. He was clinging tightly to Archie then.

"Please go," Maxie said. "I can't give the team what they need, not now. Please, Tabitha."

The man nodded.

"Of course, sir." He turned away.

"Come on," Archie said.

Maxie was so light, so easy to pick up.

He really has changed over the years, Archie thought as he listened to the other man wheeze. And not for the better.

He was torn from his thoughts by his cell phone vibrating.

"Archie! What's going on?"

"Shelley-"

"Matt and I have been watching the news!" She spoke rapidly, barely speaking one word before going onto the next. "It's so terrible, and I didn't know if you were involved."

"Look, Shelley," Archie replied. He looked down to Maxie. "I just finished doing something important. There's no need to worry now." He tightened his grip on Maxie. "I'm coming home, and I'm bringing someone with me."

"What are you-"

Maxie began to cough again, one quickly following after the other.

"Look," Archie said. "I don't mean to get cross with you, but I don't have time to explain. Ma-, er the guy, needs a little help. He helped me before when I had hit my lowest point, and it's about time to return the favor."

Shelley paused. "Okay," she said. "You can explain later. We've just been worried about you."

From the background, he heard an all too familiar cry of "Bro!"

"I know," Archie replied.

"Just get home safe, okay?"

"Okay, Shelley," Archie replied. "Okay."


	2. lovers' spit left on repeat

"Have you ever wanted to hate someone?"

The room went became quiet for a moment, the two friends wordlessly looking at each other. The clinking of glasses and the sound of Matt's workout mix playing from a nearby room was the only thing to break the silence.

"No," Shelley finally admitted.

Archie looked away from her, down to his glass. She had known that it had been a bad day for him when he came back to Aqua Headquarters without reporting any news, but this was just plain bad.

The introspection is just because of the alcohol, Shelley thought. It has to be.

"Why not?" Archie raised an eyebrow.

"I can't think of anyone to hate."

Archie clenched his fists. "I can."

He didn't say the name; he never had to.

"I should hate him." Archie took another swig from his glass. How he could keep down vodka, Shelley would never know. "I should want that bastard dead."

Shelley absently took a sip of her water bottle.

Sometimes she wished Archie would get a therapist.

Other times, well...

Other times, she couldn't be sure if anyone, not even a trained professional, could handle him.

The tears came earlier than usual, streaming down his face. He tried to speak, but his words were muffled by sobs. With the last of his strength, he placed his glass down.

"Why don't I hate him?"

"Because," Shelley said, her eyes on the floor.

Because what? The word hung in the air, waiting for an answer that would never come.

The sobs stopped after a while, and Archie picked up his glass again.

"Do you think he hates me?"

"Maybe," Shelley replied. She hadn't actually seen much of the red head. His prescence filled Team Aqua's headquarter's halls and was always reflected in Archie's eyes, yet she hadn't had more than three conversations with him. "Maybe not."


	3. A New Light - Domestic AU

The sound of Maxie screaming, so loud and so sudden, nearly made Archie drop his freshly made sandwich.

"May, that is not a toy!"

Archie quickly placed his unbeaten sandwich back onto his plate before heading towards the source of the noise. The living room was even messier than usual, with toys and baby books strewn all over the floor.

Archie had seen his husband in a lot of situations, from crying in a pool to wearing nothing but his knit socks. He had yet to see him failing miserably at chasing after a six month old.

"What is going on in here?"

Both heads gleefully turned towards him. May raised her hands up and began to wave towards him. Maxie's eyes were a few inches off of him, his dark eyes changing from wide one moment to squinting the next.

"Oh, Archie, it's so good that you're here." Maxie stood up straighter. "I was just looking for May, trying to get my glasses back. I was having a bit of trouble."

Archie looked back to the girl in question. Her brown hair was a mess, and her hand me down baby clothes seemed just a few sizes too big for her. In one hand was a plush Poocheyena and in the other a block.

"My, my," Archie commented. "She doesn't even have teeth and already she's trying new delicacies." He couldn't hold back a chuckle.

Maxie glared at him, or at least in his direction. "Do you really find this of all things funny?"

"You at least have to admit that it's pretty cute."

"Pretty cute?"

May, as uninterested in her fathers' squabbles as ever, continued to chew on Maxie's glasses.

"You could say that she's trying to see you in a whole new light."

Archie didn't know whether Maxie reminded him of a volcano about to explode or an impending earthquake.

Both at the same time, Archie thought.

"Would you just help me get my glasses?" Maxie's voice lowered near the end, and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Just let me grab something," Archie replied.

Maxie was too busy taking deep breaths to respond. He was still doing it when Archie came back a few moments later.

Archie walked forward, his hands held tightly on the camera.

"Smile for me, May." Archie instructed, raising the camera up to his face.

"What are you doing?" a squinting Maxie asked.

"Just something you mentioned before."

The camera made a loud click, the picture appearing instantly on the digital screen.

"You're taking pictures now?" Maxie cried.

"Hey, you're the one who said before that we should take every opportunity we can to take photos." Archie placed the camera down on the floor before moving closer to May. "Or what did you call it? 'Making memories' or something like that?" He easily scooped the small girl into his arms.

"I hardly consider May chewing on my glasses to be a scrapbook moment."

"You might not be thinking that in eighteen years."

Maxie snorted. "Can I have my glasses now?"

Archie looked down to May, whose blue eyes were wide.

Already trying to fool people into thinking she's innocent, Archie thought. He smirked. No wonder we adopted her.

"Papa wants his glasses back. Will you give them back, May?"

May released the glasses from her mouth. She had just barely been able to hold onto them, and even then only on the very end, on one of the parts that rested on Maxie's ears. Archie caught it in one hand before it could fall and hit the floor.

These things really are indestructible, Archie thought.

Other than being a little wet, Maxie's glasses were fine. He wiped them off on his shirt before handing them to Maxie.

"I can't believe this," Maxie said. He readjusted his glasses, pushing them as far up his nose as he possibly could.

"I can," Archie replied. "I even have photographic proof of it." He smirked, and he could have sworn that May did the same.

Maxie glared directly at him. He pouted, his eyes switching from Archie's face to the small child held in his arms.

Archie should have known that something was wrong when Maxie smiled.

His bandana was off of his head before he even had time to notice it was gone. In one moment, it was on his head, and in the next dangling above May's face.

"Here's a new toy for you, May," Maxie said, the grin still on his face.

May reached out a pudgy hand towards the blue fabric, her eyes wide.


	4. sticks and stones

"I can't let you do that."

Those were six simple words, six words that had stopped Maxie from ever listening to what Archie ever said again. Six words that had made three other words useless. Those had been three words that Archie had so fondly said, whether before giving Maxie a kiss or writing at the end of a note. There were so many times that he had said those three simple words that it was hard to even number them.

He couldn't have stopped the words from leaving his lips. Archie's mother had once joked that his mouth was like a wave - once it was rolling, there was no way to stop it from crashing.

But how could he have possibly restrained himself? What Maxie had suggested was inhuman. Not only that, but he had spoken with grave seriousness, his eyes cold and words sharp.

Archie had hoped those words, those six simple words, would help Maxie see reason.

You can't blame yourself for what he did, Archie thought. His choices are his own.

Yet he couldn't stop those words from repeating in his mind. They were louder than even Maxie's victorious cry as he held the orb up.

It was ironic, now that he thought about it. No matter how hard he had trained his Pokemon, it hadn't been enough. Even after the two had broken up, like two masses of the earth's crust that tore the world apart as they moved apart, he had still stayed close to Maxie. At least as close as he could, just to try and get him to see reason.

He had even almost had a chance to stop him.

He'd repeated those words again, those six simple words. Because they were true, and had been true ever since Archie had first said him.

A slight movement caught Archie's eyes.

The kid's back, Archie thought. Despite himself, he couldn't help but smile. May was persistent, constantly getting herself into something too big for someone her age.

She ran forward, face blank and fists clenched. Maxie turned towards her, his nose and forehead crinkling. He clutched the orb tighter.

"Maxie," Archie said, turning back towards. "I, no we, can't let you do that."


End file.
